Lex Med Blog

On your mark, get set, go! Join us for the Lexington Medical Center Heart and Sole Women’s Five Miler on Saturday, April 20 in downtown Columbia. This women-only event features a five-mile run, a five-mile walk and a three-mile-walk. In its 18th year, Heart and Sole is designed to celebrate women and the power of a healthy lifestyle, and to raise awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. With a strong commitment to a comprehensive cardiovascular program at the hospital, Lexington Medical Center is pleased to be the title sponsor.

The start line is at Arsenal Hill on Laurel Street. The opening ceremony is at 7:30 a.m; the 5-mile run and walk begin at 8:00 a.m; and the 3-mile walk starts at 8:05 a.m. The finish line is at the bottom of Finlay Park on Taylor Street. Each woman will receive a red rose and a finisher’s medal as she crosses the finish line. A post-event celebration and expo featuring Lexington Medical Center clinicians as well as WIS-TV news anchors Dawndy Mercer-Plank, Judi Gatson and other WIS-TV personalities will take place in Finlay Park until 10:30 a.m.

“We’re proud to host the Heart and Sole Women’s Five Miler because it not only encourages physical activity a healthy lifestyle, it also calls attention to the issue of heart disease — the biggest health threat women face today,” said Dr. Amy Epps, cardiologist with Lexington Cardiology, a Lexington Medical Center physician practice.

Launched by the Carolina Marathon Association in 2002, the Lexington Medical Center Heart and Sole Women’s Five Miler is South Carolina’s first women-only road race. It has grown from fewer than 400 female participants in its first year to more than 1,300 today. The race offers women of all athletic abilities the opportunity to participate in a comforting, supportive environment. Elite athletes, as well as first-timers, enjoy the unique event.

Women who have participated in Heart and Sole in previous years will recognize changes in the course over the past two years. The growth of Columbia’s Soda City Market on Main Street has made the downtown area on Saturday mornings busier than ever before. As a result, the course now goes down Marion Street, incorporate historic sections of the city and eliminates the Gervais Street hill. These changes have created a flatter, faster course.

For more information, including a course map, packet pick-up, race day and awards information, and to register, visit HeartAndSolerun.com or HeartAndSoleWalk.com.

We hope to see you at the start line!

Each April, we celebrate our hospital volunteers with a luncheon.

Last year, 340 volunteers spent more than 54,970 hours delivering flowers, staffing information desks, facilitating pet therapy and assistant departments and offices.

They also raise money for Lexington Medical Center Foundation initiatives.

Thank you, volunteers!

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Lexington Medical Center is pleased to announce the birth of the first baby born inside our new patient care tower!

Baby Savannah Kate came into the world on Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at 11:35 a.m. She weighs 8 pounds, 4 ounces and is 21 inches long.

Mom Katlyn, dad Jake and big brother Jackson have welcomed her with open arms.

“The new Labor and Delivery unit is so beautiful,” Katlyn said. “There’s so much natural light in each room.”

Mom and baby are doing great. The Chapin family will call the baby “Anna Kate.”

The patient care tower is the new home of Lexington Medical Center’s Labor and Delivery and Mother/Baby units. The hospital has a proud tradition and legacy of delivering bundles of joy. More than 100,000 babies have entered the world here since the hospital opened in 1971. Today, Lexington Medical Center delivers more babies than any other hospital in the Midlands.

Congratulations to Katylyn and her family, and welcome baby Anna Kate!